The invention relates to a withdrawal mechanism suitable for a cup-holder unit or the like as an automobile interior equipment, and the cup-holder unit using the same.
Heretofore, a cup holder for holding a cup for a beverage or canned beverage has been installed in a central console or an instrument panel of a vehicle. In this case, in order to effectively use a narrow space in a compartment of the vehicle, there has been known a drawer-type cup holder, wherein a housing is built in an interior wall of the vehicle and the cup holder can be drawn out of the housing at any time.
In case the drawer-type cup holder as described above is built in the instrument panel of the vehicle, there may be a case such that a shift lever or an arm rest becomes an obstacle or drawing the holder depending on an installation position thereof. Therefore, in order to draw the holder while avoiding from the obstacle, it has been proposed that the drawn-out holder can swing or a drawing locus of the holder is inclined on one side. Also, it has been proposed that by considering the using condition of the user, the holder is designed to be drawn on the side of a driver""s seat depending on the installation position.
For example, in Japanese Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 3-167037, as shown in FIG. 7, there has been proposed a cup holder, wherein sliding grooves b are provided in upper and lower walls of a housing a in the front-and-rear directions thereof, and also, sliding projections d slidably inserted into the sliding grooves b are provided to the holders c to thereby move the holders c along the sliding grooves b, so that under the state wherein the holders c are drawn out of the housing a, the holders c can swing around the sliding projections d, respectively.
However, in the cup holder, since the holders c in the drawn-out state from the housing a are swingable, they are likely to swing in the horizontal direction even with cups thereon, so that the stability at the time of use is not sufficient since shaking and vibration take place always in the vehicle. In this case, although it is possible to provide a locking device for locking the holders c in a state where they swing with a predetermined angle, in case the locking device as described above is provided, the number of parts of the cup holder is increased and the assembling work thereof becomes complicated, which results in a high cost.
Also, as shown in FIGS. 8(A) and 8(B), there has been proposed a cup holder, wherein a sliding guide member e slidable in the front-and-rear directions and a guiding groove b, the forward end of which is inclined on one side, are provided in the housing a, and a holder c is provided with a first guide projection d to be inserted into the guiding groove b and a second guide projection g to be inserted into a sliding guide groove f provided in the sliding guide member e, so that the holder c is drawn from the housing a while sliding to one side. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 8(B), when the holder c is drawn from the housing a, the sliding guide member e is also moved forward together with the holder c to guide the first guide projection d provided on the holder c to the inclined portion of the guide groove b, and also, the second guide projection g is guided along the sliding groove f of the sliding member e, so that the holder c is drawn in a state sliding on one side.
In the cup holder, the holder can be held in a relatively stable state when it is drawn from the housing a, so that the problem resulted from the cup holder as shown in FIG. 7 can be solved. However, the cup holder requires the sliding member e, so that the number of parts is increased. Also, the sliding member e and the holder c have to be built in the housing a in an interlocked state, which results in complicated assembling work and decreases in the assembling efficiency, i.e. production efficiency to thereby raise its cost.
In view of the above defects, the present invention has been made and an object of the invention is to provide a withdrawal mechanism, wherein a drawing member of a holder for holding a cup or the like is drawn by sliding to one side, the drawn drawing member can be held in a stable state and an assembling work thereof can be easily carried out with the less number of parts to thereby reduce its cost.
Another object of the invention is to provide a cup-holder unit using the withdrawal mechanism as stated above.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.
In order to attain the above objects, according to one aspect of the invention, a withdrawal mechanism of the present invention includes a box-shape housing having an opening at a front end thereof and a drawing member received in the housing to be slidable in the front-and-rear directions thereof. When the drawing member is slidably drawn forward, the drawing member projects forward from the front end of the housing. A first linear guiding groove and a second guiding groove having an inclined portion inclined to one side at at least a portion thereof are provided, side by side in the front-and-rear directions, to the housing or the drawing member. A first guiding projection to be slidably inserted into the first guiding groove and a second guiding projection to be slidably inserted into the second guiding groove are provided to the drawing member or housing. When the drawing member is drawn, the first and second guiding projections slide in the first and second guiding grooves, respectively. When the second guiding projection slides through the inclined portion of the second guiding groove, the drawing member is drawn while rotating around the first guiding projection, and the drawing member projects from the front end of the housing in a state swinging by a predetermined angle.
According to a second aspect of the invention, in a cup-holder unit, a mechanism for holding a cup or the like and a holder member received in the housing to be slidable in the front-and-rear directions thereof are provided. When used, the holder member is pulled forward to be drawn from the housing, so that the holder member projects forward from the front end surface of the housing. The withdrawal mechanism is provided between the housing and the holder member.
In the withdrawal mechanism of the invention, as described above, the first guiding projection and the second guiding projection formed on one of the housing and the drawing member are inserted into the first linear guiding groove and the second guiding groove formed on the other of the housing and the drawing to be slidable therein. When the drawing member is drawn from the housing, the first and second guiding projections slid in the first and second guiding grooves. At this time, when the second guiding projection is guided to the inclined portion of the second guiding groove, the drawing member is rotated by a predetermined angle around the first guiding projection, so that the drawing member is drawn from the front end surface of the housing in a state rotated by a predetermined angle.
As described above, according to the withdrawal mechanism of the invention, the swinging angle of the drawing member is controlled by two engaging points, i.e. an engaging point between the first guiding projection and the first guiding groove and an engaging point between the second guiding projection and the second guiding groove. Thus, the swinging angle of the drawing member drawn from the front end surface of the housing is stably held at a predetermined angle to thereby cause no horizontal shaking nor wobbling.
Moreover, only the first and second guiding grooves and the first and second guiding projections are provided to the housing and the drawing member, respectively. And, there is no necessity of providing the sliding guide member e required by the cup holder shown in FIGS. 8(A) and 8(B), nor a locking mechanism for locking the drawing member with a predetermined swinging angle. Thus, the withdrawal mechanism of the invention can be structured with less number of parts, and moreover, the assembly work can be easily carried out only by the simple work such that the drawing member is set in the housing so that the first and second guiding projections are engaged with the first and second guiding grooves to thereby reduce working steps when assembled and to effectively carry out the assembling work. Thus, the production cost can be effectively reduced.
Here, though it is not specially limited, it is preferable that the sliding grooves are provided to the inner surfaces of both side walls of the housing or both side surfaces of the drawing member in the front-and-rear directions thereof, and sliding projections to be inserted into the sliding grooves are slidably provided to the inner surfaces of both side walls of the housing or both side surfaces of the drawing member. A curved portion or inclined portion corresponding to the rotating movement of the drawing member is provided to at least a portion of the sliding groove or sliding projection formed on the drawing member, so that when the drawing member is drawn from the housing or housed in the housing, the sliding projections are slidably moved in the sliding grooves.
Thus, the vertical wobbling of the drawing member can be positively avoided to thereby further improve the using state of the drawing member which is drawn from the housing. Also, since the curved portion or the inclined portion corresponding to the rotating movement of the drawing member is provided at at least a portion of the sliding groove or sliding projection formed on the drawing member, at least a portion of the sliding projection is always inserted into the sliding groove while the drawing member is completely drawn from its housed state or the drawing member is completely housed from its drawn state. Thus, when the drawing member is drawn or housed, no vertical wobbling occurs to thereby carry out an extremely stable drawing operation or housing operation.
Further, though it is not specially limited, it is preferable that the first and second guiding grooves are open at the front end of the housing or at the rear end of the drawing member, so that the drawing member can be easily assembled to the housing to thereby simplify the assembly work.
More specifically, normally, an upper end wall or a lower end wall of a housing is formed as a separate member from a housing main portion. In this case, it is necessary to attach the drawing member to the housing such that the drawing member is set inside the housing to allow the guiding projections to engage the guiding grooves, and then the upper end wall or the lower end wall is attached to the housing main portion. However, as described before, in the invention, since the first and second guiding grooves are open at the front end of the housing or at the rear end of the drawing member, the drawing member can be assembled to the housing such that the drawing member is inserted into the housing from the front end of the housing having the upper end wall and the lower end wall, which are integrally formed, by inserting the guiding projections from both opening ends of the first and second guiding grooves. Thus, the withdrawal mechanism can be extremely simply structured.
As described above, according to the withdrawal mechanism of the invention, it is possible to draw the drawing member by sliding it on one side, and also, the drawn drawing member can be stably held. Moreover, with the less number of parts, its assembling work can be easily carried out, which results in reduction of the cost.
Therefore, in the cup-holder unit using the withdrawal mechanism of the invention, in order to avoid the shift lever and arm rest which become obstacles or consider the using condition of the user, the holder member can be drawn in a swung or tilted state, and also, the shaking and wobbling does not occur to thereby stably hold a cup or the like thereon. Moreover, with the less number of parts, the cup-holder unit can be effectively assembled and produced at a low cost.